Hello again, and welcome to episode 86 of the Mana Pool!  Brian here, as your on-duty lifeguard for this episode.  Please make sure that your life vests are securely fastened and your diving boards are locked in their upright positions, because today we’re going to hit the rapids.  We should reiterate that The Mana Pool is not responsible for any lost or damaged items, limbs, or personality traits.

We open up with the usual formalities, including being Dirkless yet again, and shouting out to new members on the forums and the Facebook page.  We are also now on Twitter, so check out the new link at the bottom of these notes and follow us as we go about our (normal?) lives.  We’ve got some updates on Chewie’s upcoming match against the Avant-Card Show podcast, which has changed somewhat.  You can still find them at http://www.avantcardshow.com

At this point we embark on a long rant regarding pro players, casual players, new players, skill levels, stereotypes, and common misconceptions.  This is kind of an offshoot of last week’s thorny topic of the M10 rules changes, more regarding how others have reacted to the changes and what their discussions have said about them as players and theorists.  Regardless of whether you’ve been playing for 20 minutes or 20 years (how’d you manage that, anyway?), you’ll hopefully find this rant/discussion/ramble interesting.

Don’t get caught up here, though, because we’ve got a ways to go.  Allied and enemy color pairings, favorite cards, crazy situations, and untold wit abound.  Duels of the Planeswalkers on your right, rocky patches on your left, and an introduction to our Divine vs. Demonic series straight ahead stand between you and the shore.  Should you reach the end of this expedition, make sure to tip your dorks and come back soon!

Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode86-a-truly-astonishing-amount-of-random-magic-musings-t353.html
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Hey there, all you Mana Pool listeners!  Brian here, subbing in for Chewie.  He worked 12 hours on the day that we recorded this episode, only to come home and run the recording less than 2 hours later, and he needed a bit of a break.  You’d never guess it from the episode, though, ‘cause we’re all firing on all cylinders for this one.  When I say "we", I don’t mean Dirk, because he’s not going to be with us for this episode and another or so due to computer death problems.  Never fear, as we’ve got a mystery guest host, whose identity is unknown for at least a minute or so into the episode. [Chewie note:  It's Bill, who is kurai_seraphim on the forums].

We cover quite a bit of ground here before we even get into the meaty, juicy topic that the episode covers.  We go over Cardshark member promotions for June, new members on the forums and Facebook [Chewie note:  International, baby!], and the usual routine.  Then, Chewie answers a challenge from the Avant-Card Show Podcast of the utmost importance - nudity is at stake!  No, Chewie will not be naked, we promise.  Maybe.  After that, Duels of the Planeswalkers release information is discussed.  Anybody got a spare $10 (and an Xbox 360)?

Then, we get into the main topic.  This was going to be the next installment in our ongoing multiplayer series, but Wizards forced us to change course with the publication of rules changes accompanying Magic 2010.  These changes are huge and will impact the way you play the game from now on, so love them or hate them, you’d best listen up.  Mulligans are like going to bed?  Creatures getting tired?  The end of Magic?  Tune in to find out what I’m talking about!

Find the Avant-Card Show here: http://www.avantcardshow.com
M10 Rules Update here: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/42a


Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-85-m10-rules-update-discussion-t349.html
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Can we say that?

This time we've got a lot to go over.  We're Dirkless again due to his recent computer problems, but we're joined by my old roommate Corey again, so that evens out.  We've got a mess of feedback to go over first.  Then Brian and I have to tell you about the recent PTQ we attended.  We ran the decks that were being tested in the last episode, just so you know.  No last minute deck swaps for us.

Then we get to the true purpose of this episode.  We're discussing multiplayer deckbuilding.  More specifically, we're going to focus on the differences between building a deck to take on one person and building a deck to handle multiple opponents.  Of course, we sprinkle liberally with our own personal experiences and knowledge.  And there's plenty of giggling, joking, tangential nonsense, and picking on each other, as per usual.  What sort of episode would it be without all that?

Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-84-can-we-say-that-multiplayer-deckbuilding-t344.html
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This is probably not what you were expecting, is it?  Due to recording time problems, it was either this or no show at all.  And since I know what happens to you rabid Mana Pool fans out there when you don't get your weekly fix, Brian and I came up with a solution.  Let us know if you thought this was good, bad, terrible, stupid, didn't care, greatest thing ever, or whatever you think.  Please give us some feedback here, we're curious.

What you're hearing here is us testing for the PTQ that happened this past weekend.  Some people requested that we try playing a game or more on the air, so we decided to give it a shot, killing two birds with one stone.  Brian's playing a Bant Aggro - Finest Hour deck, and I'm playing a Jund Aggro - Cascade deck.  We'll hit you with how the decks performed at the PTQ next episode, as well as get back to our multiplayer shows. 

Music for this episode: Respect the Blade by Swift
Check out Swift at http://www.swift-band.com

Forum thread for this episode: http://cardshark.freeforums.org/episode-83-testing-an-experiment-t340.html
Check out our archive at http://themanapool.libsyn.com
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